New Era for Lady Trojan Soccer

Last season Amy Chandler learned the Millington Soccer program as an assistant coach. This year she is in charge of the Lady Trojans.

There is a lot of newness around the Millington Lady Trojan Soccer program entering the 2015 season.
New Head Coach Amy Chandler is happy to have seven experienced seniors during this transition period. The total of 12 upperclassmen have a new coach, new home at USA Stadium and new district to play.
“We loss about three senior girls from last year,” Chandler said. “It’s not as big of a lost of players as the previous year. With seven seniors coming up, we have a lot of leadership, especially defensively.
“We have a strong group of freshmen girls, real athletic,” she added. “We think they’ll be able to contribute a lot and compete for some starting position.”
Some of the leaders on the Lady Trojans are Holli Stokes at goalie. Chandler noted her defense and vocal leadership has improved since last season.
Expected to control the midfield will be Jaycee Thompson and Bria Barnes. Other key players for Millington will be Corina Nichols, Evette Santos and Abby Roque.
All these girls will be a part of the first Lady Trojan team to call the historic grounds of USA Stadium home.
“We’re in the process of ordering goals and getting that set up,” Chandler said. “I think it will be good for the community of Millington to be out there at USA Stadiu.
“We’ll be able to raise more money just being able to control who comes through the gate,” she continued. “We won’t have people watching the games and not paying. We will get a lot of traffic over there which will be good for the program.”
The program will log more miles than recent years. For several seasons, the Lady Trojans competed againsts teams like Cordova, Bartlett, Bolton, Arlington and a few in Memphis. Now Millington has moved from Class 3A to Class 2A.
“So there is a lot of traveling,” Chandler noted. “We’re in a new league with Haywood, Ripley, Covington, Jackson Christian School and Trinity Christian Academy. Both of those schools are out of Jackson, Tenn.
“We’re doing quite a bit of traveling to Jackson,” she added. “Sometimes when you’re doing road games, it helps the girls bond. I think that can be a plus. And I think in this district, we’re a little bit more evenly matched. It will help to have some competitive games this year.”
Trinity and JCS are well-known soccer powers in West Tennessee. Millington looks to establish itself near the top of the league. With so much unknown, Chandler said she wants her Lady Trojans to take care of their day-to-day functions.
“Every year you want to see improvement and growth from the previous year,” she said. “So I don’t even have any goals as for record. I just want to see our girls improve and really work together as a team.
“I do have high expectations because our senior talent is so good this year,” Chandler concluded. “With a new district, you can never tell. I have high hopes and I think it will be a good season.”